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Kaitlin Munda
English 111
Professor Turner
7 November 2014

Coach-Athlete Relationship

The dynamic duo, a coach and an athlete at their all time high. For both
individuals have created a bond in respect towards boundaries that will enhance the level
of performance, increase the passion for the sport and create a wall of trust, that fear,
untruthfulness and disloyalty shall never faze. As generations have evolved many have
come to the conclusion that a bond, in respect towards boundaries is controversial.
Regarding philosophies of athletes pushed to the brink of success to prove abilities.
Along with encountering sexual harassment as a result of crossing professional
boundaries and negative views/ideas configured by parents. However, I believe that
these misconceptions will never deter the connection created between the dynamic duo.
The main responsibility of the coach is to enable their athletes to attain levels of
performance not otherwise achievable (Short, S29). With a bond in regards towards
boundaries, the coach is obligated to push the meticulous athlete physically and mentally
beyond others for he/she desires excellence within the sport. Athletes that have a close
bound with their coach are pressed to the brink more than other teammates in order to
achieve a heightened level of the game. Its main purpose appears to revolve around
enhancing peoples capacity to achieve a goal/s or develop a specific skill/s (Jowett,

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OBroin and Palmer, 19). However, a coach who has a close bond with his/her athlete is
familiarized with the threshold of pain of that ahlete. Sandro Gamba states Coaches who
understand this can condition their players to accept pain as a positive not negative
factor (Gamba, 35). A close bond among the individuals is vital to sport coaching
context. In the sport coaching context, coaches work together with their athletes in an
effort to facilitate continuous skill development, maintain high levels of enthusiasm and
ultimately achieve performance success (Jowett, OBroin and Palmer, 19). Also
athletes capability to understand the continual pressure isnt just for scrutiny but a drive
for when one isnt pushing themself hard enough. A bond is crucial for it familiarizes
the coach of an athletes acceptance of pain later leading to the amplified level of
performance.
In todays society, many parents frown upon the connection of a coach and
athlete. Coaches views constructing complications of parents that want what is
preeminent for their child. Coach Kyle Gray is currently the head coach of the basketball
team at Edmonds Community College in Settle, Washington. He believes that not
agreeing with the coachs views, the amount of playing time and the positioning
assignments will either make or break the childs passion for the game. Resulting in
parents embedding in their athletes head a perception about the coach intended to make
the child shy away or even quit overall. On the other hand, Coach-athlete interactions
have been shown to influence athletes perceptions of their sport satisfaction and
enjoyment (Blom, Watson and Spadaro, 1). As parents are forcing a negative image of a
coach on their child, coaches are creating, within willing athletes, an intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation can be defined as the inherent pleasure and satisfaction derived

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from engaging in an activity (Adie and Jowett, 2750). Parents must recognize that the
best results in athletics come from an unfettered coach-athlete relationship. Even when
the parent is unsatisfied with the coaching style, they must recognize that the coach is
trying to make the best decisions for the athlete. When parents try to force a decision
upon their child, they extract the athletes sense of passion for the sport, overbearing the
athlete causing unnecessary stress for both groups. This unnecessary stress can harm the
ever so fragile relationship a coach and an athlete have that in return affects the athletes
passion for the game.
Even with all the negative press about failed coaches, athlete relationships are an
integral part of sports. For example, when coaches and athletes through their athletic
relationship feel that the other person is trustworthy, then there is a degree of affective
closeness that binds these two people in a unit relationship (Jowett, OBroin and Palmer,
21). This relationship creates a wall of trust between the player and the coach that
motivates both to perform at the highest level. Society must remember that the trust built
between a coach and his/her athlete is something that is very essential. Working as a
unit, a coach and athletes are able to understand one anothers mindsets, contemplations
and movements. Moreover, coaches and athletes who have the capacity to negotiate
their behaviours in terms of who is dominant and who is submissive at any given time are
said to be complementary in terms of reciprocity (Jowett, OBroin and Palmer, 21). The
trust shall never be broken due to misconceptions of angry parents, over worked athletes
and the well-worn philosophies of alleged sexual harassment cases.
Sexual harassment, all though a serious topic, must not be over analyzed. It is
common for a coach to have physical or verbal misapplication towards an athlete. Head

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football coach at Ohio State University, had a history of verbal and physical abuse
towards his players (McDowell and Cunningham, 761). We must remember that in
every relationship there is conflict that must be resolved. Sometimes an athlete simply
needs a stern talking to by a coach to get their act together and continue to perform at the
highest level. A more recent case of harassment, Bobby Knights, head coach of the
mens basketball team at Texas Tech struck a player on the chin during a televised game.
Knight, Prince, Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Meyers, Princes parents, and
among those who defended the action, deeming it acceptable and part of the learning
experience in basketball (McDowell and Cunningham, 761). This is all part of the wall
of trust that fear, untruthfulness and disloyalty can never daunt. Creating the most
successful coach-athlete relationship, in turn producing a superior, more efficient athlete.
A bond in respect towards boundaries between a coach and athlete is
indispensable for it enhances the level of performance, increases the passion within the
sport and creates a wall of trust, that fear, untruthfulness and disloyalty shall never faze.
As an athlete myself, creating a bond with your coach helped me to become effective and
sufficient within the game. The misconceptions of parents, sexual harassment cases and
continual pressure on an athlete will never fragment the bond created between a coach
and athlete for it is the true key to triumph within sports. A coach teaches lessons that
leave life long impressions!

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Citations

Adie, James W., and Sophia Jowett. "MEta-Perceptions of the Coach-Athlete

Relationship, Achievement Goals, and Intrinsic Motivation Among Sports
Participants." Journal of Applied Social Psychology (2010): 2750-773. Print.

Blom, Lindsey C., Jack C. Watson, and Nina Spadaro. "The Impact of a Coaching
Intervention on the Coach-Athlete Dyad and Athlete Sport Experience." The
Online Journal of Sport Psychology 12.3 (2010): 1-11. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Gamba, Sandro. "Relationships Between Coaches and Players." Coaches- Psychology

and Motivation (2005): 35-36. Print.

Jowett, Sophia, Alanna O'Brien, and Stephen Palmer. "On Understanding the Role
and Significance of a Key Two-person Relationship in Sport and Executive
Coaching." Sport and Exercise Psychology Review 6.2 (2010): 19-29. Print.
McDowell, Jacqueline, and George B. Cunningham. "Reactions to Physical Contact
Among Coaches and Players: The Influence of Coach Sex, Player Sex, and
Attitudes Toward Women." Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism (2008):
761-67. Print.

Short, Sandra E., and Martin W. Short. "Role of the Coach in the Coach-athlete
Relationship." Medicine and Sports 366 (2005): 29-30. Print.
"Youth Sports: Healthy Relationships Between Coach and Parents." CoachGray.
CyberChimps, 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

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Word Count: 1075